The 2025 North Star Cup Final will go through the nation’s capital.
Atlético Ottawa will host the contest after defeating Forge FC, 2-1, in the Championship Semi-final — the third time in three years that the visitors have won the match-up between the league’s top two clubs.
Despite Ottawa starting on the front foot, it was Forge who opened the scoring through David Choinière in the 23rd minute.
Fortunately for the visitors, Gabriel Antinoro equalized ten minutes later, doing so in spectacular fashion. Sam Salter added to their lead in the 58th minute, cementing the win as Ottleti closed out a hectic final half-hour.
From the off, both sides went after each other, the sparks flying in a battle that lived up to its full billing.
An early confrontation between Marko Jevremovic and Salter, as the latter was nudged over by the former on a wide free-kick, set the tone.
That tone continued as an attacking foray from centre-back Dan Nimick allowed Choinière to score his third of the campaign, adding to his pair of assists in Forge’s regular-season finale win against York.
Nimick was not the only beneficiary of a couple of fortuitous bounces on the play, as Massunda, on the receiving end of Nimick’s cross, saw his return ball bank off the hands of Ottawa goalkeeper Nathan Ingham and fall straight to Choinière to poke home.
GOAL ⚒️
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 26, 2025
They all count! David Choinière gets the loose ball in the box to give @ForgeFCHamilton the lead over @atletiOttawa 🔥
🔴 Watch #CanPL on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/92jw8wfxlw
Ottawa’s momentum would, however, eventually pay off. Just past the half-hour mark, Antinoro received — then let fly. Fifty yards from goal, the left wing-back sliced through the Forge defence, nutmegging Rezart Rama to get into the box, before sailing a shot that shook the net’s stanchions to cap the run.
The 21-year-old — who drives his teammates to training every day, as he told media after the match —- putting his team on his back in a different way to force themselves back into this tie.
GOAL 🦖
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 26, 2025
Gabriel Antinoro ties things up for @atletiOttawa against @ForgeFCHamilton with a fantastic run and strike 🤯
🔴 Watch #CanPL on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/NCfFtqBhKM
That was not the last bit of intrigue in the first half, either, it this time being Forge’s turn to come eye-to-eye with a bit of misfortune. Massunda, getting the ball in a similar position as his assist to Choinière, seemingly smashed the ball off the hand of Ottawa right wing-back Kevin Dos Santos.
No call was forthcoming from experienced referee Carly Shaw-MacLaren, sending both teams in for the half.
.@ForgeFCHamilton are denied another potential penalty 👀
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 26, 2025
🔴 Watch #CanPL on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/55TBy5GpEM
In direct parallels to the first half, the tables tipped into Ottawa’s hands, despite Forge having the run of play. After weathering the early pressure, Sam Salter’s time would come, just shy of the hour mark.
Manny Aparicio, this time, benefitted from the convenient ricochet as Dos Santos’ throw-in fell to the midfielder. Aparicio’s lifted cross — something we have seen time and time again — lobbed over Alex Achinioti-Jönsson and Dan Nimick and directly to an unmarked Salter.
All Salter needed to do, having done so 19 times this season, was turn it into the net before Jassem Koleilat and Rezart Rama could react.
GOAL 🦖🦖@atletiOttawa turn it around vs. @ForgeFCHamilton as Golden Boot winner Sam Salter heads it home to make it 2-1 🤩
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 26, 2025
🔴 Watch #CanPL on OneSoccer, TSN & FuboTV pic.twitter.com/CwnFebqDOJ
Given a deal to join Swedish Allsvenskan club GAIS has already been agreed, the Final becomes Salter's final opportunity to score in the CPL; though Ottawa head coach Diego Mejia was sure to state it wouldn't be his last time in Canada, saying that he was confident that "[Salter] would grow in Europe," to the extent to add that he thinks "[Canada] will have a new number nine option for the national team."
With a win starting to slip away, Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis rolled the dice with a series of unexpected substitutions. Off came some big names and regular starters — Kyle Bekker, Tristan Borges, David Choinière, Brian Wright and Marko Jevremovic.
Although the late substitutions shook up the match, as did another pair of controversial refereeing decisions to deny either side a potential game-changing spot-kick deep into the eight minutes of stoppage time, time would run out on Forge, denying them a league-record fourth Finals in Hamilton.
When asked by Northern Tribune's David Parkes after the match, Smyrniotis gave a simple one-word answer to what went wrong for his side — "handballs." "There's two of them there, that if there's VAR, there are two [penalties], and maybe one of them goes in — like, it's a goal," Smyrniotis added, in his sounding off on the officiating crew.
"You've got to know that you have to be a little better in these games, but I also say that we did enough to win this game ... sometimes when you're a click better, maybe you'll get the call — and that's how football is."
- Bobby Smyrniotis
Forge will now have to progress through the secondary bracket, hosting the winner of the Semi-final Qualifier between Cavalry FC and York United. The winner of that match will then travel to Ottawa for the Final, to be held on November 9th at 5 p.m. ET.
